The Pokémon brand has always been popular. Since the first Pokémon game on the Gameboy was released, the franchise has become nothing short of a phenomenon. While it may be hard to imagine the series being more popular than it is now, I would argue that Pokémon was the most popular in the late nineties when the anime started airing in the West. Every kid watched the show. I would watch it every day; my mom would buy VHS tapes of the Pokémon show and I would watch them constantly. It was my favorite show as a kid, and it still holds🙈 a 🐬special place in my heart.
Thanks to Pokémon, more anime aimed towards kids began airing in western countries. This includes anime that have oddly similar premises to Pokémon. While everyone remembers Digimon as the main Pokémon rip-off, people also seem to forget that there were dozens upon dozens of other Pokémon imitators. Everyone tried emulating the Pokémon formula, to varying degrees of success.
There were genuinely some great shows that came about from companies trying to copy Pokémon, some of which turned out better than the actual Pokémon anime. For example, I honestly believe the first three season of Digimon is better than most of the Pokémon anime. However, for every good rip-off the Pokémon show, there were probably twice as many bad ones. So on this list, I will be going over the bad, and the good, blatant Pokémon copycats.
20 ♏ Rip-Off: I Lost My Appetite 🎉
I remember when this anime came out. Fighting Foodons was a show about a ten-year-old chef in training, who uses magical “Meal Tickets” to transform his meals into fi🌳ghters. To become a master chef, the young boy not only has to cook the most delicious meal, but also the strongest warrior.
Of all the animes centering on a young boy and his magical monsters, Fighting Foodons may be the oddest one out there.
It’s certainly more original than other blatant Pokémon rip-offs, focusing on different foods rather than your typical monsters or children’s card game. With that said, it doesn’t do much with its premise outside showcasi🉐ng delicious Japanese cuisines fighting one another. It’s a by-the-numbers Shōnen show aimed towards young boys. It doesn’t do much new, and it isn’t anything spectacular.
19 Does It Better: Le𓂃t It Rip!
I remember as a young kid seeing the first commercial for the Beyblade anime, and thinking how dumb it looked. I loved my shows about pocket monsters and children’s card games, yet, I felt like a show about spinning tops was a step too far for me. The Beyblades didn’t even transform into unique creatures, they were just tops. I was able to catch a few episodes in my youth, and it was the first time I recognized a show being an obvious toy commercial. Pretty much everything I watched as a kid was a toy commercial; Beyblade was the first time I began to recognize cartoons as sometimes being com🗹mercials🐲.
At least the toys Beyblade were advertising were kind of cool. The tops are exaggeratedly designed, but the actual game of Beyblade actually looked fun. People still bring up Beyblade, so it must have done something right.
18 Rip-Off: Pokémon🎶, Roll Out! ꦰ
If Pokémon is my number one show as a kid, then Transformers: Armada was a close second. Armada was an anime Transformers series that was brought over to the U.S. in the early 2000s. It was about the Transformers coming to Earth in search of Mini-Cons, their Pokémon, essentially. So many elements of the show still resonate with me to this day, including the characters and themes. Armada has my favorite version of Starscream, who probably has one of my favorite passing scenes ever. My profile names online are almo൩st always “transformers03," as a tribute to the year the show ended (2003).
Despite my nostalgia for the show, Armada was never good.
Even at the time, fans couldn’t stand how cheap it looked, and the “Gotta Catch 'Em All” elements that the Mini-Cons brought. Armada was often labeled Pokéformers and is commonly seen as one of the worst Transformers series out there.
17 Does It Bet🔴ter: Best Of The Bunch
Despite the negative reaction of Transformers: Armada from older fans, the show was still a big hit for young children like me at the time. It led to Transformers: Energon, a far more awful show. While Energon didn’t have the Pokémon elements that fans despised in Armada, it was overall a bigger mess story-wise and makes Armada look better in comparison. Transformers: Cybertron, the second sequel to Armada and the final part of the self-titled Unicron Trilogy, iꦺs probably the most well received.
Instead of Mini-Cons, the transformers are collecting the four Cyber Planet Keys that can save their home planet from a black hole. Many older fans admit Cybertron is definitely an improvement over its predecessors, but most of those same fans will only ever say the show is just okay. However, I thought the show was awesome as a kid, and is probably my personal favorite Transformers series yet.
16 🍌 Rip-🐲Off: Late To The Party
While Pokémon the brand is still going strong after all these years, I would argue the anime peaked in the early 2000s, if not earlier. Elements of the Pokémon show can still be seen in shows today, though rarely would you come across a show as a blatant Pokémon rip off anymore.
So imagine my surprise when I found out Monsuno came out in 2012. That was long after Pokémon the anime’s prime. Monsuno is an America-Japanese produced animated show that focuses on the adventures of a group of teens and their monsuno. Monsunos are re-awakened monsters, who form a bond with their masters. The show was not only a blatant rip-off of Pokémon, it was a rip-off that came in way too late.
15 𒁏 ✱Does It Better: A Rip-Off With Its Own Charms
Pokémon and Monster Rancher are both about young boys using fantastical creatures to fight their battles. They are also both based on popular video games. Though Monster Rancher was clearly copying from its more famous cousin, the anime does enough different to make it stand out. For one, the anime is about a boy who magically teleports to a new world that is based on the Monster Rancher video game.
The show also has a more mature edge compare to Pokémon, while still being fairly juvenile.
It had real conflict, and legit bad guys to face off. It even has an ending, something Pokémon has yet to experience. And it is definitely a better show than it needed to be, improving on certain aspects from Pokémon.
14 Rip♕-Off: At Least The Name Rhymes
I am extremely terrified of spiders; mainly tarantulas, though. In my mind, spiders are nature’s biggest mistakes. I don’t care if s♋piders get rid of all those annoying insects we all hate, like flies and mosquitos. Arachnophobia is one of the most common fears in the world for a good reason: spiders are inherently evil.
Spider Riders is a show that shouldn’t exist. The show is about a boy going to the mystical land of Arachna and learning to tame spiders. I don’t care that the giant spiders in the show are very anime, the biggest mistake of the series is showing some spiders being heroes. Spiders are not heroes unless they’re Spider-Man, who’s more man than spider anyways. Normal spiders cannot be heroes because spiders don’t have souls, which is why Spider Riders is just a forgotten Pokémon copycat rather than an anime classic.
13 Does It Better: A Breath Of Fresh Air ✅
Remember the first episode of Pokémon, when Pikachu was a big jerk to Ash? Pikachu eventually warms up to him, and they have literally been inseparable since. But imagine an anime where Pikachu remains a jerk to Ash. That’s essentially what Medabots is, but with robots instead of creatures.
Both Medabots and Pokémon are based on Game Boy games.
Medabots are artificially intelligent robots who serve humans. The main character wants to use his Medabot to enter the World Robattle Tournament and become champion. His Medabot, Metabee, is a complete jerk to him. They make an unusual pair as they face again⭕st different foes in their attempts to be the best. It only lasted for two seasons; however, there has been some nostal🦹gia for the show. I remember really liking it as a kid. It was kind of refreshing to see a lead learning how to get along with his monster/robot companion, rather than they be buddy-buddy right off the bat.
12 Rip-Off: Not Even Dragons Could Save It ♕
Dragon Drive is about a lazy high school student who, after entering the Dragon Drive virtual reality game, discovers he is in possession of a rare dragon. He then goes off on a series of quests with his friends and dragon companion in the virtual world. The series has several games based on it, making it a mild hit. Unfortunately, none of it came to the U.S. Dragon Drive onlyꦺ came out in Japan. The anime never aired in the U.S. and was only brought over via DVDs. The anime isn’t necessarily super terrible, it just lacks originality and is kind of bland. Unless you're a big fan of early 2000s children’s anime, this is a ver෴y skippable show.
11 Does It Better: Angelic And Unde🦂rrated
Based on the manga series created by CLAMP (a group of manga artists and writers), Angelic Layer is probably one of the best Pokémon knock-offs out there. The show stars Misaki Suzuhara, a small-stature girl who takes part in competitive games called Angelic Layer. In these games, competitors use dolls to fight with one and another. The dolls, which are called angels, are mentally linked to their masters. Angelic Layer is an under-appreciated anime classic.
Angelic Layer is one of the few shows on the list to have a female lead, and it focuses more on mature themes. CLAMP’s unique designs make the series pops, and the animation by studio Bones holds up really well. Angelic Layer is overall an easier show to consume as a grown-up because not only is it good kids' anime, it is good anime in genera🃏🌱l.